A political analyst has dismissed the notion that the Perikatan Nasional (PN) "tsunami" will not be a cause for concern in the Kedah state election, which must be held soon.
According to Mazlan Ali, senior lecturer with the Perdana Centre, Razak Faculty of Technology and Informatics at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), PN's influence is expected to take several more years to wear off.
"The PN tsunami witnessed in the 15th general election (GE15) in the northern and East Coast states was indeed temporary, but the trend is expected to last for one to two years.
"The state election results may mirror that of the GE15 one, courtesy of the 'PN tsunami'," Mazlan (above) told Malaysiakini when contacted.
Mazlan was responding to the statement by Kedah Harapan communications director Ismail Salleh that the coalition could recapture the state in the next state election due to PN's waning influence.
Pakatan Harapan is determined to recapture Kedah in the next state election, based on the current political situation.
Ismail attributed the confidence to three main factors - the temporary “PN tsunami”, the excellence of the coalition government’s federal administration and the political cooperation between Harapan and Umno.
'Reformation' takes time
Elaborating, Mazlan said Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim's reformation of the federal government may play a part in gathering support for Harapan, but it takes time.
"A lot of convincing policies have to be implemented (to impress the voters).
"It takes time, and is difficult to achieve in the next few months," he said, adding that PN's influence is still strong enough to not be ignored.
Mazlan added that one way to weaken PN's influence is by implementing changes at the federal government level, and by portraying a convincing partnership between Harapan and BN.
Meanwhile, Universiti Malaysia Perlis (UniMAP) political analyst Muhammad Izmer Yusof said PN has an added advantage in the northern states, especially in Kedah, due to PAS supporters and the Malay-Muslim votes.
According to Muhammad, racial and religious sentiments have always been the main deciding factor when it comes to communal-based political parties in elections.
"It is difficult for Harapan to counter the narrative unless most of the (state) seats are given to Umno (to contest), as only Umno has the history of dominating the state administration.
"In terms of the federal government's performance, it must be proven through a physical process and not via recognitions alone," he told Malaysiakini. - Mkini
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